Thoughts on Ethnic Regional Autonomy and China’s Frontier Governance

QIN Heping��

Abstract：

Frontier governance has a historical origin. Before the Opium War， the Qing government mostly determined territorial borders with neighboring countries using border lines drawn according to traditional custom. Since modern times， under the situation of being surrounded by powerful enemies together with frequent invasions， it was imperative for the Qing government to reform traditional governance.At the end of the 19th century， the Qing government successively established provinces （xingsheng， 行省） in Taiwan， the northwest and northeast regions； and in Kaiguan， Yadong， Tibet， they established a port （bu， 埠）.In the early of 20th century， the “New Policy”， such as gaitu guiliu （ i.e. the replacement of native officials with imperial ones） and the establishment of provinces， was carried out in the frontier regions of Sichuan （current Ganzi prefecture in Sichuan and Changdu in Tibet） by Zhao Erfeng， in Tibet by Lianyu ， the minister of Tibet， and in the Outer Mongolia （Uliastai） by Sanduo，the minister in Kulun.

However， while these measures were still being implemented， the 1911 revolution erupted suddenly. Although the new government of the Republic of China formulated relevant laws， and the governmental leaders also stressed the unity of the country， the control of frontiers from the Beiyang Government and the national government was somewhat weak. This was due to the influences of the circumstances， the weakness of the system， the unstable social situation， and the weakness of governmental power. So， it was not the time to talk about governance. At the instigation or incitement of other countries， some frontier regions either announced their “independence” （for instance， Outer Mongolia）， or were incorporated into another country. The territory of the country was gradually being reduced， and the crisis in the frontier areas became more and more serious. It was not until the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949 that the situation of powerful countries “eating up” Chinas territory ended.

Along the tens of thousands of kilometers of border extending from the estuary of Yalvjiang in Liaoning to the estuary of Beilunhe in Guangxi within Chinas mainland area， almost all of these border areas are ethnic autonomous regions， prefectures or counties. This geographical situation requires that when we think about current governance and relevant strategies for Chinas frontier areas， we must take ethnic regional autonomy into consideration， and we must study and think about the countermeasures and measures within the framework of this system.

In order to build the national system and ethnic theory， the Communist Party of China （CPC） went through a process beginning with “self-determination” to a mixture of “self-determination” and “ethnic autonomy”， then to “ethnic autonomy”， and finally， to the determination of using“ethnic regional autonomy”.

However， ethnic regional autonomy encountered a series of problems in its practice. For instance， what should the content of the “autonomy” include， or how should it be carried out， etc.？ Thus， in November 1982， the Fifth Session of the Fifth Meeting of the National Peoples Congress made some modifications or additions to the Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China. Ethnic regional autonomy was one of the important modifications. Based on the rules of the constitution， the Sixth Session of the Second Meeting of the National Peoples Congress approved the Ethnic Regional Autonomy Law of the Peoples Republic of China in May 1984. In February 2001， the Ninth Session of the 20th Meeting of the Peoples Republic of China made some changes on the Ethnic Regional Autonomy Law， and promoted Ethnic Regional Autonomy as “the basic political system of the state”， making it parallel with the current National Peoples Congress system， Chinese peoples political consultative conference system and democracy system at the grass-roots level. Even so， we need to notice and pay serious attention to ethnic regional autonomy within frontier governance， and study relevant issues from the perspective of governance theory.

Frontier governance must face up to ethnic regional autonomy. Firstly， ethnic regional autonomy has been confirmed as “the states basic political system ”， no matter concerning our understanding to frontier governance or building of frontier governance theory， we cannot ignore it， and we must conduct activities within this framework. Secondly， although various differences and unbalanced development exists in our frontier areas， frontier governance needs to be unified so as to avoid these differences. Thirdly， we need to address whether the realization of “autonomy” in the ethnic autonomous regions refers to “the nationalization of the units” and “nationalization of party members”？After all， “the Han cannot be separated from the ethnic minorities” and “the ethnic minorities are also inseparable from the Han”. Last， while doing research on the new approaches of frontier governance， we need to enrich the system of ethnic regional autonomy based on the current law of ethnic regional autonomy； and develop the economy actively and flexibly by using the relevant provisions of the “autonomy”. By doing so， we should increase income， improve the life of the people in the frontier region， reduce or even eliminate the gap， realize common prosperity； strengthen the exchange between the frontier area and the interior area， and change the frontier region into “interior area”. Only through these actions can the frontier areas have a long-term stability.

Key Words： ethnic regional autonomy； frontier governance； system design

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